Sherman on Luck: 'He’s an incredibly perspicacious guy'

“I really think it’s a team honor. It’s a testament to how well our whole defense has been playing. The front has been getting a lot of sacks. They’ve been getting a great rush and have been giving us a chance to make plays back there. The linebackers have been playing well, and you know the Legion of Boom has always had an impact on every game with Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, Brandon Browner, one of us is going to get the award on this defense. I think it’s just a blessing that I was able to get it and able share it with those guys because it’s such a team honor.”

(On Reggie Wayne…) “He’s incredibly effective and he’s been effective for a long time. He’s had great quarterbacks in Peyton Manning in those years, but he’s also had great years receiving when he didn’t have the best quarterbacks in the world. He’s very craft, and he’s veteran. He has tricks, there’s a reason why he’s been playing so long. We’ve been watching him on film making sure where on our P’s and Q’s.

Premium content for only $0.99

(On Andrew Luck's comment on being scared of Richard Sherman…) “He’s silly is what he is. That’s my guy, that’s my guy. He’s an incredibly perspicacious guy. He’s incredibly intelligent at the line of scrimmage, he uses great verbiage, he recognizes defenses quickly, he’s probably one of the most intelligent quarterbacks out there in the way he reads coverages and the way he reads the games. I heard Doug Baldwin say he’s going to be one of the best ever and I would have to agree with him there. We’ve seen him develop, we’ve seen his first couple of years at Stanford when he was a freshman, and he probably could have started for some NFL teams then as a freshman. He’s a great quarterback, he’s a great leader, and regardless of the situation he stays incredibly positive and poised. You have to respect that about him.”

(On which QB is harder to prepare between Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck…) “They’re both tough to prepare for. I don’t think I can give either one of them the edge because Russell does so many things well, and he’s hard to see, he’s hard for DBs to see in the back end. When you can’t see the quarterback you don’t know where the ball is coming from, you don’t know who he’s looking at, you just see it fly out of there out of nowhere. It kind of looks like a ball is just shooting out of jugs when you have Russell back there. It really does man it looks like lineman and then ‘shoo, shoo’. Andrew makes some great decisions, he makes incredible decisions, he’s incredibly mobile just like Russell is, and he has a great feel for the game. He has a great feel for where the pressure is coming from, where the line is breaking down, and he moves so well. He’s probably one of the most mobile quarterbacks that isn’t getting credit for being mobile.”

(On if he knew immediately that Andrew Luck was going to be great…) “They let the quarterbacks who aren’t starting or that are redshirting do the scout team, and he use to destroy us on scout team. We would think ‘why do y’all have us going against this dude, why don’t y’all play him. You see how he’s doing us and we’re the starting defense’. He always had a great feel for the game; he makes good decisions like I said before. You could see early on that he could make every throw, the offense wasn’t too big for him, and he was such a leader. He’s one of those guys that gets in the huddle and commands you attention quickly, but he’s not one of those raw, raw on your behind kind of guys, but he still gets his point across.”

(On calling Andrew Luck perspicacious…) “It looks like he wanted to show some extensive vocabulary so I had to get in there with him. Go Cardinal.”

(On Andrew Luck's intelligence in terms of play calling…) “At Stanford his last year I think they would pretty much let him call whatever he wanted at the line. He could change the call, he could auto check. There are usually three calls, but he’s usually totally in control of it. He’s like an offensive coordinator out there. he could change the play, if he sees the safety coming down he’ll run it to the opposite side, if he doesn’t see the safeties coming down and it’s a good pass play, he’ll check totally out of any play that was called on the call sheet and check into a pass and check his protection into where they need to be because he is so in control. He’s a great player.”

(On if it’s rare to see Andrew Luck making a mistake…) “It is very rare because he’s so intelligent and he’s so on the P’s and Q’s. Every now and then a ball will get tipped up, it’s football and crazy things happen in every game. Obviously everybody makes mistakes here and there, but he definitely limits them.”

(On having words to Andrew Luck…) “Me and Drew may have a conversation or two, but it will never be anything bad. No bad blood between us, that’s my guy.”

(On who wins the collision battle between Andrew Luck and Richard Sherman…) “I’m definitely going to try to cut back on him. I’m definitely going to try to avoid that collision, I hope somebody gets a block because he throws a pick and he’s usually the first one to try and make a tackle. He’s flying up like a linebacker trying to correct his mistake. I think he’s 240 pounds so he might have the physics battle won in that situation.”

(On differences in creativity between Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson…) “I think they’re both incredibly creative on the run. Andrew keeps his shoulders downfield a little differently than Russell does. He always looks to throw it. Russell is creative in when he tucks the ball, when he throws it he uses the pump a little more to get people off of their feet. Drew kind of tucks it, and if he’s going to go, he’s going to go.”

(On how Andrew Luck's intelligence affects the secondary…) “It doesn’t. We approach the game the same way. Quarterbacks don’t play by themselves. We need to play tight coverage on their receivers and make it difficult for him to find people open. That’s what we’ll do week in and week out. He still has to get the ball in there. That’s what we’ll try to do, we’ll try to play press like we do every week and see if he can get it in there.”

(On how much of a rush Richard Sherman gets from making interceptions…) “Mam it’s an incredible rush. It’s really an incredible rush because you rarely see things like that in football where you study, you practice the play, you make a pick on the play in practice, and then it shows up in the game. It’s such a rare occurrence so it’s really a motivation to the team to practice every play like it’s a game because you never know what play is going to be the one.”

(On dropping nine defensive players back during Earl Thomas' interceptions…) “I don’t know if we meant to drop nine. We didn’t tell them both to go, but it happens like that sometimes. We have a creed in the defensive room, tips and overthrows you got to get those. Anytime a ball gets tipped up, it’s like piranhas out there. Everybody is trying to get a piece of it; everybody is trying to the ball as quickly as they can. That was another case of that. Tips and overthrows you got to get those.”

(On being successful in the red zone…) “We’re getting more aggressive. The closer they get, the more aggressive we get because of the more opportunities you get. If they put the ball in the air, they have less space to work with, so there are more chances of somebody getting a hand on the ball, somebody tipping it up, and somebody getting picks. I think two of those plays are tipped balls. They’re trying to fit those balls into really, really tight windows, and anytime that is the case, and you’ll have a chance to make a play on the ball. I think a lot of guys are just trying to tip it up to give somebody else a chance, and that’s what we’re doing. we’re playing the ball real aggressively.”

(On Bruce Irvin coming back…) “Awe man that’s a huge lift. I think we were playing well, but I think he’s one of those weapons that can come on at any time. He can come on and get two, three, or four sacks at any time. Last year I think he was playing only 13 plays a game, and he’d play 12 plays and get two sacks. I think that’s incredible production for a day. I think he’ll play similar snaps this game, not sure how much they expect to use him, but I’m sure he’ll make an impact while he’s in there.”

(On seeing the story on Richard Sherman being back with his family…) “I did get a chance to see that man, and it’s a blessing. It’s a blessing that people get to see my family, where we come from, and everything that we went through as a family, but it’s also nice for our city to get some positive recognition for a change.”

Read Next

The News Tribune offers a sports-only digital subscription for $30 a year with all the reporting from sports writers Gregg Bell, TJ Cotterill, Lauren Kirschman and Lauren Smith on the Mariners, Seahawks, Huskies and high schools.